Mondays, 10:00 PM ET on CBS

60 minutes

A drama inspired by the early career of Dr. Phil McGraw as the founder of one of the most prolific trial consulting firms of all time. Brilliant, brash and charming, Dr. Bull (Michael Weatherly) is the ultimate puppet master as he combines psychology, human intuition and high tech data to learn what makes jurors, attorneys, witnesses and the accused tick.

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Really lives up to the title.

Michael Weathely! *swoon* I so wanted him to have his own show, a GREAT show, something where he could really show off his leading man chops. Instead, he chose to do a show *very*loosely based on the life of Dr Phil (who also contributed to the writing). I can only assume most parts are ficionalized as Weatherly's character is 'irresistible to women.' "Phil, honey, let's get real, how's that mindset working for ya?"

Plus it's a despicable* profession. Doing a mock trial for rich people or corporations to discover which jurors should be picked, then using the jurors to decide how the defence lawyer, expert witnesses and the accused should speak, wear, appear in court all just sucks. It betrays everything the scales of justice stand for, just because the richest people in society - with whom I have no beef, except when they pull this should-be-illegal BULL (see what I just did there...? ;) ) - then the scales of justice are no longer even. Ever wondered why rich people always, always, always get off with their charges? This show will tell you how, oh, and of course, let's not forget, how alluring the lead character is, loosely based on Dr Phil...ugh. I hate myself even more because I love MW so much I'm gonna watch the first ten minutes, crying at what he has done to himself. Okay, rant over...but really!

*despicable - said in the voice of Daffy Duck - I may be ranting but I still have a sense of humor. :D

Really lives up to the title.

Michael Weathely! *swoon* I so wanted him to have his own show, a GREAT show, something where he could really show off his leading man chops. Instead, he chose to do a show *very*loosely based on the life of Dr Phil (who also contributed to the writing). I can only assume most parts are ficionalized as Weatherly's character is 'irresistible to women.' "Phil, honey, let's get real, how's that mindset working for ya?"

Plus it's a despicable* profession. Doing a mock trial for rich people or corporations to discover which jurors should be picked, then using the jurors to decide how the defence lawyer, expert witnesses and the accused should speak, wear, appear in court all just sucks. It betrays everything the scales of justice stand for, just because the richest people in society - with whom I have no beef, except when they pull this should-be-illegal BULL (see what I just did there...? ;) ) - then the scales of justice are no longer even. Ever wondered why rich people always, always, always get off with their charges? This show will tell you how, oh, and of course, let's not forget, how alluring the lead character is, loosely based on Dr Phil...ugh. I hate myself even more because I love MW so much I'm gonna watch the first ten minutes, crying at what he has done to himself. Okay, rant over...but really!

*despicable - said in the voice of Daffy Duck - I may be ranting but I still have a sense of humor. :D

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This review is based on the pilot of "Bull" which aired 9/21/16

Many of you may be skeptical of a series based on the life of controversial TV personality Dr. Phil. Maybe many of you weren't aware it was,
and have just became skeptical. Please set aside your skepticism for the time being.

The series might be "LOOSELY" based off of Dr. Phil, but it stars the very good looking Michael Weatherly (NCIS) as Dr. Bull, not Phil, and its highly ... fictionalized. I highly doubt Dr. Phil had expensive cutting edge software that learns everything it can about people to predict whether they are learning towards guilty or innocent. So, skepticism hopefully quelled, lets talk about the show.

Bull is essentially a remake of the 2005 series "Lie to Me" starring Tim Roth, but instead of solving crimes brought to them by clients, they analyze jurors in order to help create a legal defense. Think of what they do as, masterminding the perfect defense strategy, based on psychology. So what it all boils down to, is a Lawyer show with a gimmick, and from the pilot, its one that works.

Bull is a procedural, so I don't suspect to see many serial elements. It seems to be a case of the week type show. Bull himself is very smug, but not arrogant, and is only ever a dick to make a point that will help people. We didn't get a good sense of the supporting cast in the pilot, they were quite forgettable, and the details of the particular case in the pilot seemed very soap opera, and very farfetched for reality. There was a fairly large twist at the end, which was ok, until it led to another, unnecessary, even larger twist, which was just dumb. I imagine this show will be done by many writers, not just one, or even a few, so I can't say for sure every episode will be as good as the pilot, but if they are, its a B+/A- show, and certainly worth watching until it starts to sink and die like Lie to Me did in its latter seasons.

This review is based on the pilot of "Bull" which aired 9/21/16

Many of you may be skeptical of a series based on the life of controversial TV personality Dr. Phil. Maybe many of you weren't aware it was,
and have just became skeptical. Please set aside your skepticism for the time being.

The series might be "LOOSELY" based off of Dr. Phil, but it stars the very good looking Michael Weatherly (NCIS) as Dr. Bull, not Phil, and its highly ... fictionalized. I highly doubt Dr. Phil had expensive cutting edge software that learns everything it can about people to predict whether they are learning towards guilty or innocent. So, skepticism hopefully quelled, lets talk about the show.

Bull is essentially a remake of the 2005 series "Lie to Me" starring Tim Roth, but instead of solving crimes brought to them by clients, they analyze jurors in order to help create a legal defense. Think of what they do as, masterminding the perfect defense strategy, based on psychology. So what it all boils down to, is a Lawyer show with a gimmick, and from the pilot, its one that works.

Bull is a procedural, so I don't suspect to see many serial elements. It seems to be a case of the week type show. Bull himself is very smug, but not arrogant, and is only ever a dick to make a point that will help people. We didn't get a good sense of the supporting cast in the pilot, they were quite forgettable, and the details of the particular case in the pilot seemed very soap opera, and very farfetched for reality. There was a fairly large twist at the end, which was ok, until it led to another, unnecessary, even larger twist, which was just dumb. I imagine this show will be done by many writers, not just one, or even a few, so I can't say for sure every episode will be as good as the pilot, but if they are, its a B+/A- show, and certainly worth watching until it starts to sink and die like Lie to Me did in its latter seasons.

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Michael Weatherly took a chance, and it seems he may be able to pull off a second lucky charm series. I wish him well. The ensemble cast is developing nicely and he seems to be rehabilitating more than one person who has been in over their head. There is a positive feelgood feeling from the show, without being smarmy.

After reading other reviews, I think it is a problem for the wealthy to be able to afford a DIFFERENT justice than the rest of us, but I think there will be more of a LEVERAGE type of good deed in the end as time goes by...and maybe some guilty people pay an appropriate price, even if it is not prison.

Seems that I am right about the SELECTION OF CLIENTS not always being rich...which is a good thing!

Michael Weatherly took a chance, and it seems he may be able to pull off a second lucky charm series. I wish him well. The ensemble cast is developing nicely and he seems to be rehabilitating more than one person who has been in over their head. There is a positive feelgood feeling from the show, without being smarmy.

After reading other reviews, I think it is a problem for the wealthy to be able to afford a DIFFERENT justice than the rest of us, but I think there will be more of a LEVERAGE type of good deed in the end as time goes by...and maybe some guilty people pay an appropriate price, even if it is not prison.

Seems that I am right about the SELECTION OF CLIENTS not always being rich...which is a good thing!

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I was very excited to see Michael Weatherly as the lead in his own show. I don't want to make a judgement call based on the first episode alone. I feel like if they follow the same format for every episode that it will become stale very fast. I like shows with twists, turns, sub-plots. I am not sure this one can deliver those things. The character is likable but the profession isn't. I will give it a few more episodes.

I was very excited to see Michael Weatherly as the lead in his own show. I don't want to make a judgement call based on the first episode alone. I feel like if they follow the same format for every episode that it will become stale very fast. I like shows with twists, turns, sub-plots. I am not sure this one can deliver those things. The character is likable but the profession isn't. I will give it a few more episodes.

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Its very similar to The Mentalist. That had Patrick Jane and his cups of tea.
In The Mentalist there were various sub plots - love interest etc.
BULL could go the same way as The Mentalist and NCIS - being repeated over and over on UK's Channel 5.
Also is'nt there an old film with exactly the same format ?
I can't see it lasting - it needs a multi-layered plot line otherwise afternoon repeat TV here we come.

Its very similar to The Mentalist. That had Patrick Jane and his cups of tea.
In The Mentalist there were various sub plots - love interest etc.
BULL could go the same way as The Mentalist and NCIS - being repeated over and over on UK's Channel 5.
Also is'nt there an old film with exactly the same format ?
I can't see it lasting - it needs a multi-layered plot line otherwise afternoon repeat TV here we come.

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Great if you like House & Bones. This show has the same charm inside the courtroom as they have in their hospital and forensics lab. Not strange considering Bull's creator, Paul Attanasio, was the executive producer (and creator) for House.
Rating is in between 4 and 5 stars, but gave it the benefit of the doubt. May change my mind later on.

Great if you like House & Bones. This show has the same charm inside the courtroom as they have in their hospital and forensics lab. Not strange considering Bull's creator, Paul Attanasio, was the executive producer (and creator) for House.
Rating is in between 4 and 5 stars, but gave it the benefit of the doubt. May change my mind later on.